Bridging the Distance_A Kindred Tales Novel Read online

  “It is on my world of Twin Moons,” Bound said earnestly. “On my home planet you would have to thrust the males away with a branch.”

  Lorelei smothered a smile. “I think you mean, ‘beat them off with a stick.’ That’s the expression you’re looking for.”

  “Oh, of course.” He nodded. “The point is, I think an Elite—especially such a beautiful one as yourself—will have an easier time getting through to my brother.” His face darkened. “If we can retrieve him, that is.”

  Lorelei tried to keep her voice neutral and ignore the little hop her heart made when the big warrior called her beautiful. Even though he had expressly told her he wasn’t interested in her that way, hearing that he thought she was gorgeous and that his brother would too, was at least food for thought.

  Just don’t let it be food for your ego and cloud your judgment, she warned herself. Get the whole story before you agree to anything.

  “Tell me more about this place where your brother is going to be, uh, sold,” she said, trying to use her most professional tone. “This…Fem-lala place.”

  “Femalah,” Bound corrected. “The Femalians have a matriarchal society where the husband is always subservient to the wife.” He frowned. “In reference to your world’s history, I believe it would be analogous to the society of Victorian England, only with the male and female roles reversed.”

  “Reversed, huh?” Lorelei murmured.

  “Yes. Females go out to work and control all the money while the males stay home and tend children and do other various household chores.”

  “Wow,” she shook her head. “Talk about role reversal. That sounds interesting.”

  “From an anthropological point of view, maybe,” Bound said dryly. “But from a practical point of view, it means I am unable to go and bid on my brother by myself. It’s unheard of for a male to take such initiative. They never leave the domicile without a mother, a wife, or an older sister to look after them and make certain they don’t get into trouble.”

  “Amazing!” Lorelei was getting more and more interested. “So you want me to pose as your, uh…”

  “As my mate—my wife, as you say,” Bound finished for her. “You will bring me with you to the auction and then buy my brother, Torn.”

  “But…if I’m your wife, won’t people think it’s strange that I’m, uh, buying another guy?”

  “Oh no.” Bound shook his head matter-of-factly. “It’s quite common for females to have more than one mate on Femalah—more than one husband. Some of the wealthy females have whole harems of males to serve and pleasure them.”

  “Imagine that…” Lorelei grinned. “That sounds more like the Arabian Nights than Victorian England but wow—I think I could get used to a world like that.”

  “I’m sure it sounds inviting,” Bound said darkly. “But in any society where there is such extreme inequality, there is also much abuse. Males are nothing more than chattel on Femalah. They may be abused, bought, sold…even killed without comment or recrimination to the female who does the killing.”

  “That’s awful!” Lorelei exclaimed. “Okay, I see your point.” She sighed. “It’s just that women have been stomped on and held down on Earth for so long, a little role reversal seems like it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Do you know we still only make seventy cents to every dollar that men make even if we’re doing the exact same job? At least in this country we do—some places it’s a lot worse.”

  “We Kindred don’t agree with Earth’s inequality any more than we agree with what happens on Femalah or on Yonnie Six, for that matter,” Bound remarked. “We don’t believe that females are inferior because they are physically weaker. The Goddess gave males greater strength to protect and shield their females—not to hold them down or denigrate them.”

  “I like that.” Lorelei smiled at him approvingly. “I always heard that you Kindred were feminists.”

  “We are more like equalists if there is such a thing,” Bound remarked. “An equal relationship is essential between a female and her two males if there is to be peace and harmony between them.”

  “Her two males?” Lorelei started to raise an eyebrow before she caught herself. “Oh, that’s right—you’re a Twin Kindred. I forgot—sorry.”

  “It’s easy to forget since I am alone—without my brother.”

  The pain in Bound’s voice was almost palpable and for a moment, Lorelei thought his intense blue eyes looked suspiciously bright.

  “Hey, you really miss him, don’t you?” she murmured. “I’m so sorry. I have an older brother myself but we’ve never been particularly close. I can only imagine it must be different when you’re twins.”

  “There is a mental and emotional connection between Twin Kindred brothers that is only superseded by the bond they can form with a female, when she lies between them,” Bound murmured. “It…hurts to be without him. And every day I feel that connection between us growing weaker. I…” He pinched the bridge of his nose, as though trying to drive back a headache or perhaps tears. “Sometimes I fear that I’m going to lose him completely,” he finished, in a low voice.

  “No, you won’t,” Lorelei said firmly. “I’ll come with you and help you get him back.”

  “Will you really?” Bound looked up, hope shining in his eyes. “But I haven’t even offered you any money yet!”

  Lorelei sighed. “Well, I wish I could do it for free but you kind of caught me at a bad time budget-wise. So…” She shrugged apologetically.

  “I would never expect you to do this service for free,” Bound exclaimed. “I’m prepared to offer you a great deal to even make the attempt with me. It is, after all, a dangerous proposition.”

  “Dangerous how?” Lorelei asked. Her stomach felt suddenly cold. “It sounds straightforward enough—pretend we’re a couple, buy your brother, and bring him back to the Kindred Mother Ship.”

  Bound coughed delicately.

  “It’s just that the Femalians don’t take kindly to outsiders. So we need to be certain they don’t find out our true identity. And then once we have my brother…we don’t know what has been done to him.” He lifted his hands in a gesture of uncertainty. “Kindred are large and muscular—they are often trained as fighters or killers when they are captured as Torn was.”

  “But you said the fact that they’re selling him on a female-dominated planet means he’s probably been modified as a, uh, love-slave, right?” Lorelei couldn’t imagine what kind of modifications a Kindred would need for that particular role. If Torn was anything like his brother, Bound, he probably wouldn’t need a penis extension or anything like that. At least, if the long, thick bulge running down one leg of Bound’s tight leather trousers was any indication.

  “…all right with you, My Lady?”

  Bound’s deep voice drew her back to the present and she realized she’d been staring at his crotch, not paying any attention to his words. Talk about sexist!

  “Uh, sorry. What?” She cleared her throat and looked at his face, not his crotch. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

  “I said, we can stop on the Mother Ship first to draw up the contract. I can offer you fifty thousand of your Earth dollars to help me in this venture. Will that be enough?”

  “Fifty thousand dollars? Enough?” Lorelei nearly choked.

  “I wish I could offer more, but I have to have enough money in order to bid on my brother at the auction,” Bound said apologetically. “But if you need me to, I could borrow more…”

  “No, no.” Lorelei waved a hand at him. “No, fifty-thousand is plenty.” She could pay off the rest of her student loans with that kind of money! And maybe move out of this crappy apartment too. “Fifty-thousand is just fine,” she repeated. “We have a deal.”

  “Thank the Goddess.” He looked immensely relieved. Rising, he came to kneel at her feet and took both her hands in his. “Thank you, My Lady. Thank you from the bottom of my heart—you don’t know what a weight you’ve lifted off my shoulders.”

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